7 inmates killed in “incident” at maximum security S.C. prison

April 16, 2018

Entrance to Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, South Carolina

WLTX-TV

COLUMBIA, S.C. — State police were called to one of South Carolina’s most dangerous prisons Sunday night. The South Carolina Corrections Department tweeted that State Law Enforcement Division agents responded to “an ongoing situation” at Lee Correctional Institution.

Updates said it had turned deadly:

The incident at Lee CI resulted in 17 inmates requiring outside medical attention and 7 inmates were killed.

— SC Dept. Corrections (@SCDCNews) April 16, 2018

Lee Correctional Institution was secured at 2:55 AM following an incident which started at 7:15 PM. The incident involved multiple inmate on inmate altercations in three housing units.

— SC Dept. Corrections (@SCDCNews) April 16, 2018

The Department said all law enforcement responders were safe and accounted for.

The maximum-security facility that houses about 1,500 inmates in Bishopville, about 55 miles from Columbia, is home to some of South Carolina’s most violent, longest-serving offenders.

In recent years, there have been several large insurrections, including one in which an inmate overpowered a guard and used his keys to free others from their cells.

Two officers were stabbed in a 2015 fight. One inmate killed another during a fight in February.